The Second Flash of Konoha
by Brainless1
Summary: The Village Hidden within the Rocks declares war. The story of how Naruto took his father's name and title. A little bit of Naruto X Hinata as a bonus.


A shadow was all that was visible as an object streaked through the streets of Konoha in the dieing twilight of the day. Through alley ways and over buildings the shadow move at a sped that exceeded what most beings were capable of. Pausing on top of a tall building to admire what could be the last sunset to grace the Village Hidden within the Leaves the shadow could be seen for what it was. A tall person, most likely male, stood clothed in a black cloak with the hood up, a pair of black ninja sandals, and a white mask indicating this person's status as a member of the elite ninja corp. of Konoha, an ANBU agent. The mask of an ANBU served many purposes. First, the mask removed the ninja from the rest of the community and hides their identity when they were on a mission. The animal chosen for the ninja served to represent the personality of the faceless member so others in the organization can recognize them. And finally those who hold command in the ranks are the only ones with red marking on the mask to show that they are a captain of a squad. The mask of this ANBU is that of a grinning fox with three red whisker marks on each side of his face.

Where once there was one ANBU suddenly there were two, only the new agent wore a white cloak and adored a lion mask that had a red mane. Both men stood upon the roof and looked at the sun as its last rays of light disappeared over the horizon. "Report Fox-Captain," the figure in white spoke when all was bathed in darkness.

"My men have finished scouring the village looking for any rock-nin that has tried to infiltrate prior to the main army. None where found so it appears that our security measures where a success in that regards," came the reply of the figure in black. "I assume the evacuation of the injured and the civilians to the hidden shelters in finished Commander?"

"Yes, all is taken care of for the battle. Your squad has done well but I also come barring a command from the Hokage. Tiger is being promoted to captain and is to be given control of your squad. You Fox are to remove your mask and join the other Jonin at the command center to help set up the last of our village's defense. It has been an honor to have you serve under me and I pray Kami will aid you in the morning. Good luck Naruto." With those words the Commander of the ANBU forces faded into the shadows as if he belonged there more then in the light.

Naruto stood looking at the horizon where the sun had just disappeared as he had been since he had reached the building top. The orders were from the Hokage so that meant that there was no fighting them though he would miss his comrades within ANBU. With a small burst of chakra to his feet Naruto disappeared in a blur of motion as he sped across the buildings of Konoha towards his apartment to change. At the age of 23 much had changed in Naruto's life including where he lived. Gone was the small, decrepit, two room apartment in a run down section of Konoha from his Genin days. Now Naruto lived in a nice medium sized apartment that fit his needs quite well in one of the more upkeep residential sections of the village. Closing the front door Naruto took off the black cloak and hung it on a hook revealing the standard grey suit and armor of ANBU and walked into his living room.

On the wall next to the window were four pictures that held special meaning to Naruto, they were four of the major turning points in Naruto's life. The one of the left was the beginning of his ninja carrier. It showed his Genin team just after they had finished Kakashi's bell test and Team 7 became an official team for Konoha. Kakashi placing a hand on his and Sasuke's heads as they stared in opposite directions and Sakura kneeling in the front with a big smile on her face. The next over was the beginning of Team Kakashi after his three year training mission and the second bell test. Kakashi had an arm thrown around both his and Sakura's shoulders while they held up a bell each and stuck out their tongues. Team Kakashi soon after became one of the main elements in the destruction of the group know as Akatsuki and in neutralizing the threat that the Sound village posed to Konoha, though it still saddened him to this day that Sasuke had been killed in the battles that were involved. The third was when he was 18 and it held both him and Ero-Sannin eating a bowl of ramen celebrating his induction into ANBU. It had been a goal of his since he had made Jonin a year prior. The fourth was the most surprising to him and the most confusing but now that a handful of years had passed since he was 20 he could say he was quite happy with what occurred. It was a picture of him and Hinata Hyuga after their arranged betrothal was told to them. Okay, so it was a picture of them after he had stopped freaking out and had a chance to talk to Hinata and Granny Tsunade about what the heck was going on.

Tsunade had all but publicly announced that Naruto was going to take over the duties of Hokage from her and name him the Sixth. Hiashi, Hinata's father, had recognized these trends and saw a way to save both of his daughters from the fate of the caged bird seal by naming Hanabi as heir to the clan and marring off Hinata outside of the clan. There are very few people outside of the clan that Hinata could marry by clan law but one was the Hokage of the village. A small seal was to be placed on her stomach to keep her from passing on the Byakugan onto her children but she would escape the fate of the branch family. About a week after the ceremony to name Naruto the Sixth there would be a wedding marrying the two. After some talking, arguing, and being hit through a wall or two by Tsunade, Naruto had agreed to the arrangement and had spent the past three years getting to know Hinata better. The more time that he spent with the blue haired Kunoichi the more he grew to enjoy her company and was now looking forward to the day that he was named Hokage, not just because he would be fulfilling his life long goal but because he would also be marrying Hinata.

Although in order for him to be named Hokage the village needed to survive the current threat that was besieging it. Since the end of the Third Great Shinobi War the Village Hidden within the Rocks had closed itself off from the world until about a year ago when they declared war on Konoha hoping to destroy the village in its time of weakness. Rock had been spending the entire time rebuilding and retraining its forces while the Leaf was facing disaster and hardship, first in the form of the Kyubi and then five years of fighting with the Sound depleting its forces. The elite and battle tested ninja of Konoha were more then able to fight off the less experienced shinobi of the Rock but the sheer overwhelming numbers was slowly pushing the Leaf-nin back until now when the forces of the Rock were expected outside of the walls of Konoha by the first light of dawn.

Even worse for Konoha, the Village Hidden within the Sand, their long time allies, were unable to come to their aid because Rock had managed to talk the Village Hidden within the Mist to attack them. The Sand and The Mist were in a stalemate because of skill and terrain. The skill and number of shinobi available to the two villages where comparable; this meant neither truly had the advantage over the other as long as terrain was not brought into the equation. The terrain was what was truly ruling the battle between the two. The Mist-nins could not penetrate the dessert of Wind Country and hold ground just as Sand-nins could not transverse the seas of Water country and attack the islands. Although technically a stalemate, the situation deemed it a victory of the Mist because it kept Sand from helping the Leaf to repel the Rock. If Rock won over Leaf then they could turn and crush the Sand but if the Leaf won then the Mist could be driven to deep within their islands and forced to stay there.

Naruto paused to look at the picture of him and Hinata as he took off his mask and tried to steel himself for what was to come in the morning. Hinata had become a powerful Jonin and Medic-nin of the village and had personally trained one of the best Chunin medic teams that Konoha had currently. A week ago she and her team had a close call where she was injured. Her team should not have survived at all so it was a small miracle that the only injury that was sustained was a leg wound that would keep Hinata off of the front for about a month. She was currently in the shelters with the injured putting her medic skills to the use and hopefully by the time that she was fully healed this would be all over. At least that was what Naruto prayed for as he gave a sigh and turned toward his bedroom where his Jonin vest and outfit was stored. It was then that Naruto noticed the smallest glimpse of a chakra signature in his bedroom. Someone was hiding in there and they were very skilled if they could hide their chakra that well.

Drawing the short katana from the scabbard on his back Naruto inched toward the door to his bedroom. In one swift movement Naruto threw open the door and rushed in at his full speed aiming the blade at the signature. With the clash of metal and a shower of sparks the blade was deflected by the arm guard of the intruder. "What is the meaning of this you brat!" yelled the man.

"Oh, it's you, sorry about that Ero-Sannin." Naruto said as he started to resheath his katana. "Never can be too careful these days now can we?"

After introducing Naruto to the floor of the apartment for being so callus in his attempt to kill his old teacher, Jiriaya spoke again. "Next time make sure that the person is not an ally before you rush in for the kill will you?"

Standing up Naruto sent a glare "Owe, what was that for you stupid pervert. You were the one hiding in my bedroom without leaving some sign that it was you and not a rock-nin trying to kill me."

"If you must know, I just wanted to see if you and Hinata could provide inspiration for my latest book tonight." The white haired Sannin replied with a perverted leer on his face.

After giving Jiriaya his own introduction to the floor Naruto yelled. "I'm not a pervert like you, you stupid old man, and Hinata is in the shelters helping to take care of the wounded. Besides Hinata's father, you know the one that can see through walls from long distances away, made us promise to wait till after the wedding."

"So you have thought about the wonders of the female body. You truly are a student of mine." Jiriaya said with a laugh.

"I'm a guy Ero-Sannin, not a pervert like you. There is a difference." Naruto replied as a twitch started to develop in his right eye.

"Yeah, yeah," Jiriaya said as he waved away Naruto's statement before a look of complete seriousness came over his face. "I actually came to tell you that I have come to a decision. It's time for you to announce your heritage, it's time for you to claim your true name and gain access to the last and most powerful of your techniques. I have already gotten the approval of the council before they went to the shelters. The jutsu of your family helped us overcome the Rock last time; it's time for them to do so again."

A look of joy spread across Naruto's face as he immediately perked up at this announcement. "You mean I get to use the kunai. Eight years and I finally get to use that technique. This could be just what we need to win this."

"Better then that Naruto. I put the scroll containing the process to make the seal in your jutsu library with a special blood seal on it so only you or your kin can open it. On your bed there are also four sealing scrolls. Two of them are full of more kunai, one is full of jutsu markers, and the last one is a gift from me, a new outfit to show off your new status. Use them well Naruto and be appreciative, it took me a couple months to make them all. I need to get going, I am in charge of setting up summoning circles and scrolls to help fight off any summons the rock-nin might be using. I'll see you latter, take care." With that the elder ninja started to walk towards the door.

"You take care too Jiriaya-Sensei, I want you to be around to at least see my first kid." Naruto said with a smirk. "Tell the others that I will be there in a little bit. I just need to get ready."

"Of course Naruto, of course, and may the Kami watch over us all." And with that the last of his white hair disappeared and the front door was closed behind him.

With a smile on his face Naruto turned to his bed and grab the smallest of the scrolls assuming that it would be the one with the clothes and released its contents. The smile on his face only got bigger as he saw what was released. Yes, this would do nicely.

OoOoO

Troublesome.

A lot of things about this war were truly troublesome. But the problem before Shikamaru Nara was beyond troublesome and had reached a new level that Shikamaru decided a couple days ago to call vexing. Yes, this new report was truly vexing.

Shikamaru was currently standing inside the command center beside a table with a large map displaying the movements of all the rock and leaf shinobi. Shikamaru did not know who the main tactician for the Rock forces was but whoever it was had a sharp mind. He, because it would be a real drag if it was a woman, had seen through his bluff and had sent a force to attack from a practically unguarded section of the city in a ploy to divide the defenders. A division of the defenders meant to stop the main forces of the Rock was a move that they both knew the Leaf could not afford if it were to survive, but at the same time they could not fight off an attack from both the front and behind. Truly this was a vexing situation.

Looking around the tent Shikamaru saw the Chunin assigned to help him collecting reports of the enemy movements and moving the displays on the map while others were giving out the orders to the Chunin and Jonin who were heading out to the front line. In the back, out of the way, was Lady Tsunade as she watching over the health of Kurenai Yuhi and Sakura Haruno. The two Kunoichi where sitting on the floor facing each other with the horse seal being held before them. The two would be exhausted by the time of the battle and in desperate need of a solider pill but it was essential that they continue what they were doing. The Genjutsu that they were casting over the village was hiding the movement and allocation of troops from the enemy and was giving the Leaf the element of surprise that they needed if they were to overcome the numerical advantage of the Rock.

Looking back down at the map Shikamaru sighed for what felt like the thousandth time. This really was vexing. As Shikamaru sat down and began to get into his thinking pose to enter deep meditation he noticed that the attention of nearly everyone in the tent was being drawn to something. Following their line of sight he saw someone that he had not seen for quite some time in an outfit that he had never seen at all. Walking towards the command center and entering the lit section of the street was a shinobi with blond hair and eyes as blue as the sky itself. He was wearing black shinobi pants, sandals, and long sleeve shirt with a green Jonin vest over it. The most prominent article of clothing was a short sleeved white trench coat that was tied together at the neck and had, from what Shikamaru could see, a red flame design following the bottom with an echo in orange above it. Naruto Uzumaki was indeed one of the most surprising ninja in the village and was undeniably one of the strongest.

Naruto and Sakura were the students of the Sannin, the strongest of the village. The two of them had absorbed everything the elder ninja could teach and had surpassed their teachers in all but experience. There was already talk around the village of formally passing the title of Sannin onto the two 23 year olds. This new development changed things for Shikamaru and may just be the solution to the problem that he had been having. If Naruto was no longer being keep in ANBU then that meant that Shikamaru could use his skills to take care of his current problems. His face almost slipped out of its perpetual scowl at the thought. The problem may just have gone back to being troublesome. Noticing how the sight of the powerful blond was raising the spirits of the people around him Shikamaru decided that, yes, the situation was back to just being troublesome.

"Hey Naruto, come over here I need to talk to you." Shikamaru called out.

Not really changing his pace the blond started to head in Shikamaru's direction instead of towards the waiting area outside of the tent. "What do you need Shika?" Asked Naruto once he reached the table.

"I have a problem that needs fixing and I think you can help me out. How many shadow clones can you make in one setting?" Shikamaru asked.

"A lot, I've lost count but I know I can make a lot. What kind of problem are you having?" The blond replied.

"Here, look at the map and see for yourself. A large section of the rock forces have broken off and are moving around us and trying to catch us in a pincer maneuver. I can't reallocate enough people to repel it and still fight of the main force with any conceivable success and still minimize casualties. If you could take a small squad of low level Jonin and backed them up with a lot of shadow clones then we just might be able to repel them long enough for the main force to be dealt with. If you can keep them off of our back long enough then there is a very good chance that we will be able to stop the Rock for good. They are putting everything into this last thrust, even the Iwagakage himself will be here, hoping to overwhelm us and finish the war in one move. If they are repealed tomorrow then their forces will be too overextended, too spread out, it will be checkmate."

Naruto remained quite but busied himself by looking at the map; Shikamaru could almost hear the gears turning in his head. "Shika, I think I have an even better idea. I could make that many clones but by that time they would be too weak to repeal the enemy like you hope. Get me a couple of cases of explosive tags, several spools of tip wire and give me command over TenTen's deployment and I think I can take care of this for you."

"Are you sure that this will work?" Shikamaru asked. Seeing Naruto nod he continued on "Very well then, go to the store room and take everything that you need. I'll get permission from the Hokage and have TenTen meet you there. I trust you to keep our village safe Naruto, don't let me down."

"I promise to keep our village safe and I'll never go back on my word. You can count on that Shika." With that Naruto turned around and started to walk off.

Naruto's turn allowed Shikamaru to see what was on the back of his coat. Written in large red kanji, as though screaming out their words, was the phrase 'The Second Flash of Konoha'. Shikamaru had to fight the smile off his face this time. While he slept through most of history class during school he could still remember the 4th Hokage and the name he made for himself during the Third Great Shinobi War. If Naruto could live up to the silent boasting his coat practically screamed then this battle could very well be theirs. _Yes_, Shikamaru though,_ this situation is only just troublesome now._

OoOoO

"That should do." Naruto mumbled to himself as he stuffed the last of the trap supplies into the bag he had grabbed. Inside the bag were enough explosive notes to completely remove all five faces from the Hokage Monument, enough wire to wrap a cord around the village and a couple of scrolls full of kunai just to give his traps a little diversity. Traps of the kind that he was going to set up would not kill or really stop opponents of the level he was about to face but they could be used to guide the enemy to where he wanted them and slow them down. If they took out one or two careless one all the better though. Turning around and heading out he saw a Chinese girl with her brown hair in buns leaning against the door frame to the supply depot. "Hey TenTen, I wondered when you would show up."

"Hey Naruto, do you want to fill me in on why I got pulled from the front and sent to find you here?" replied the girl. "I just got a new wakizashi and was hopping to get to test it out today."

"Sorry TenTen, not wakizashi for you. I need a job done and you are the only one that I know that can do it properly." Naruto stated as he walked past her and motioned her to follow.

"Just what kind of job are you talking about?" She asked. His only reply was to reach into his coat and pull out two large summoning scrolls with the word kunai on them and hand them to her. "Naruto, these are massive. They could easily hold 500 kunai each. What could you possible need?"

"It's 1000 each scroll to be exact. I need you to give long rang support to the main defense force. When I set off an orange flare as a signal I want you to release those kunai and saturate the battle field with them. You don't need to hit anyone but as much of the battle field as can be needs to be covered with them. You are the only person that I know that can scatter that many kunai fast enough to make my plan effective." Naruto said.

"You want me to throw kunai around without really hitting anyone and to stay away from the battle and give long rang support like I used to do as a Genin? These are Jonin and high level Chunin, I'll never hit anyone. Did Neji put you up to this to keep me away from the battle?" TenTen accused as she started to get an angry glint in her eye.

"No, Neji had nothing to do with this. I need you to stay away from the battle so when the time comes you can empty the scrolls without worry. Giving long range support was just something I figured you could do to keep from going crazy while you are staying back anyway. It's absolutely necessary that you do this. If this works, you would be even be know as the Kunoichi that helped set up the Rock's fall today. They'd even compare you to Lady Tsunade." Naruto tempted there at the end.

A far away look filled TenTen's eyes for a moment until she shook her head and returned her attention back to Naruto. "Alright I'll do it, but be warned. If you are not telling the truth about this I'll make sure you can never have children, well after you give me a niece or nephew to spoil first. Then you'll be open season after that."

"Thanks TenTen. I need to hurry if I am going to get every thing done. Go back to the command center and tell Shika what I want you to do and ask were the best place to position yourself would be. Also tell him that reinforcements will come with the orange light in the sky." With that Naruto took off at a run darting across the roof tops to get to the other side of the village as quickly as he could. Arriving at a hill in the middle of a field just outside the city that had lost most of its trees because of his battle with Gaara long before Naruto set the bag down. Forming the sign for the first Jonin level jutsu that he ever learned Naruto molded that smallest amount of chakra that he could and called 20 clones into existence. Going off the plan that he had already formulated the clones grabbed the supplies from the bag and took off to set up traps and to act as sentries and replacement targets should he need them.

Reaching into his coat Naruto pulled out the last of the scrolls that Ero-Sannin had given him. The Jutsu markers would not be necessary once he mastered the process of making the seal. He would be able to place the seal down someplace just by touching the object, but for now he needed the papers to apply the temporary seals to the field and trees around him. Neji had once claimed to have a field of divination to Naruto, with these seals around him Naruto really did.

OoOoO

Zori Tatasciore had been looking forward to this day for a long time. Finally he would get to avenge his family and his honor on the pathetic tree hugging Leaf-nins. The 4th Hokage, the man who brought about the Slaughter of the Yellow Light and the end of the war, was no longer there to save the Leaf Village. It would fall and Zori would be there to watch and laugh at their misfortune. His whole family had been lost that day and he would have too had he not been keep out of battle because of an injury. Oh yes, he was looking forward to this day.

Looking around he watched as his men slowly and carefully made there way around innumerable traps meant to keep them out of Konoha. Datori had been right, this section of the city had to be unguarded if they had gone through the trouble of laying down this many traps. He wondered why they even bothered though, the traps were easy enough to evade as long as the shinobi went slow enough. As the sun started to raise over the horizon the last of his men stepped into the field just outside the village wall. Looking up to the top of the hill he saw the last pathetic defense of the village.

Zori really felt insulted now. First they think some miserably placed traps could keep them out and then they only had one shinobi to guard their village. He was about to rush up the hill to remove the annoyance when the light finally hit the figure. Terror. Long forgotten terror, the kind that froze the body and clouded the mind, washed through his body. That man, Zori could never forget the look of that horrible man of his nightmares. It took a moment for his mind to work again and rational thought to come once more. It could not possibly be him, he was dead. It had to be a Hedge or a Genjutsu of some kind to scare them and drive them away; that was the only explanation. Steeling himself up to give the attack order he was cut off by the figure on top of the hill.

"This is your one and only warning. Leave this village now and never return otherwise your life is forfeit." He called to them.

"You moron, like we would even consider doing such a thing." Zori yelled in return, once again in total control of his body. "The Leaf village will fall and there is nothing that you can do to stop us. Just give up now and we may feel inclined to give you a quick and painless death."

"You have no intention to finish this without a fight do you." The figure replied.

"Of course," Zori yelled as he signaled his men to start to spread out and get ready for the rush into Konoha.

"Very well then you give me no other choice. Allow me to tell you name of the man about to take your life." The figure called. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, Son of the Fourth Hokage, and Future Hokage of the Village Hidden within the Leaves. You have made a grave mistake coming here; it's time for you all to die."

On his order Zori's men began to move forward as Naruto formed hand signs too fast for them to be recognized and disappeared from view with a flash of yellow light and the loud crack of thunder. All was quite for a moment and then the screaming began. All around Zori blood flew; his men were dropping left and right. Jutsu were being cast all over the place as his men tried to hit the blonde haired man that was disappearing and reappearing among their ranks, as if on a whim, hitting each other in their haste. Some tried to escape back into the tree but the traps were set off, kunai and explosions were everywhere. It was then that Zori understood. The traps were not meant to keep them out, they were meant to keep them in and they had walked right into the ambush like lambs to the slaughter. As more screaming and death surrounded him, Zori allowed himself to fall to his knees excepting the inevitable. They had been overconfident and that caused them to walk into an obvious trap from where there was no return, their lives were lost. A burst of bright yellow light appeared before him and then his entire world went black.

OoOoO

Flick, clank, sigh.

Flick, clank, sigh.

Flick, thud, "hey I got one!", sigh, "replacement."

To say TenTen was happy would have been a very big lie. Ever since the battle had begun several hours ago at dawn she had been bored and upset. Her orders keep her from the thrill of the battle and away from helping her friends. Nothing that she could do from this distance would really help any more than to annoy the rock-nins. She was beginning to fantasize about breaking out her explosive tag supply but she had to throw away the idea, the two sides were too closely intermingled for her to use explosives and not put Leaf-nin in danger. Looking for her next target she saw a burst of light out of the corner of her eye. Turning to look she saw what she had been waiting for this entire time. A bright orange flare was burning in the air from the other side of the village. Grabbing the two scrolls entrusted to her TenTen placed them on either side of her on the ground and called on the chakra that she would need for her move.

Quickly going through the signs she released the built up chakra and called out, "Twin Rising Dragon." Leaping up into the spinning set of scrolls she unleashed the first of what was to be many kunai to come and admired the tri-pronged kunai before throwing it at the battle. It took her months to learn this technique and years before to get her aim to be as near as perfect as was possible. Wave after wave of kunai fell upon the battle field without one Leaf shinobi having to doge to avoid being hit. At the end of the scrolls TenTen grabbed the center of each and allowed herself to land back onto the earth out of breath. That had taken a lot out of her but now she got to see what the heck Naruto had up his sleeves.

She, as did everyone in the battle, paused and fell silent as a burst of bright light and the crack of thunder came from the center of the field. A figure stood where the light had come from, the very air itself seemed to stand still from the sheer amount of chakra pouring off the figure. Then a voice came from the man. It was just barely above a whisper but on the silent field it was almost deafening, "Flight of the Thunder God."

OoOoO

"Flight of the Thunder God," Naruto spoke. The only thing that keep the smile off his face from using his new technique was that knowledge of how many lives he had taken already and was about to take once again. Glancing around him Naruto took in the state of the battle. The tall trees of his home had been toppled by earth techniques of the Rock-nins in an attempt to gain the topographical advantage. To the North East large frogs were fighting spiders of equal stature and all around him ninja stood, stunned by his sudden entrance into the battle. The Leaf-nins had yet to truly lose any ground but they were tiring out and there was a chance that they would in time. Stretching out his senses to feel where the kunai were Naruto silently blessed TenTen. She had done an even better job then he had hoped for. Deciding to put on a show for all the people watching he struck out his right arm to the side and began to spin his chakra while converting it into wind nature. The familiar form of the Rasengan formed in his hand before his wind nature penetrated it and the chakra changed color and large blades of wind started to rotate around the orb of his newly completed original jutsu 'Wind Release: Eye of the Hurricane'. Going even farther he channeled more chakra into his body, converted it into lightning nature to connect himself to all the tri-prong kunai surrounding him and then called out the name of the attack, "Dance of the Storm God"

With a flash of light he stood before an unfortunate rock-nin and brought the sphere through the ninja. The wind cut so finely that nothing remained where it had passed through and the two halves of the corpse fell to the ground. Before the top half was even half way to the ground Naruto turned and appeared across the field with the orb occupying the space a rock-nins chest once did and a regular kunai held in his left hand penetrating the neck of another behind him. Drawing himself up to his full height Naruto let what he had just done sink in while the two corpses fell to the ground beside him. Fear and panic started to flow through the ranks of the Rock-nin. Naruto knew that he looked exactly like his father, if you don't count the marks on his face signifying the Kyubi sealed within him, he also knew that all Rock-nin had been show a picture of his father as they were trained and taught to hate and fear the power he possessed. His appearance and techniques alone would be enough to prove is heritage to the Rock-nins. That had been why he had been kept in ANBU when fighting first broke out. If word of his existence had reached the Rock all the earlier attempts at diplomacy would have been pointless because they would have attacked even harder if only to destroy his line.

Feeling his point had been made Naruto yelled out over the battle. "Surrender and leave now; never step a foot in Fire Country again. If you don't comply, you will die." Scanning the crowd Naruto waited to see what reaction his declaration had caused.

One brave rock-nin who looked to be in his late teens started to yell, "What makes you think you can win, you are only one-" before he fell to the ground without a head and Naruto now stood behind him with the 'Eye of the Hurricane' held where it used to be.

"I won't repeat myself again. Surrender and leave now. The battle is lost; you have nothing to gain here but death." Naruto yelled again.

Everyone remained quite before a clapping filled the air. Looking for the source of the noise Naruto saw the Iwagakage himself walking in from the back of the Rock ranks, keeping a safe distance from the scattered kunai, wearing his traditional brown Kage robe and a kanji for 'rock' on his hat. Dropping his hand and letting his jutsu fade in favor of conserving chakra Naruto waited to see what would come of this new development.

"That is a very impressive attack young man." Said the Iwagakage as he walked ever closer. "You should be proud of the level that you have reached. Very few could do that." Drawing a kunai he stopped and looked at his ninja. Slicing his own thumb he yelled, "Withdraw to a safe distance, I will take care of this obstacle."

Recognizing what was about to come Naruto yelled as well, "Shinobi of the Leaf withdraw to a safe distance." Biting his thumb Naruto flashed through the hand signs at the same time as the Iwagakage and they both slammed their hands into the ground calling out "Summoning Jutsu". In an explosion of smoke a large red frog and a black spider came into view across from each other.

"Who has summoned me this time, and why did you do it?" boomed the large frog before he blew out a large cloud of smoke from his mouth.

"It was me this time 'Bunta. If you look to the north you'll see why I called you here." Naruto called from his place on Gamabunta's head.

"Kyodaimaru and the leader of the Village Hidden within the Rocks; you always find me the best opponents Naruto, unlike some pervert we both know. Alright, I'll lend you my aid in this battle," the toad said as it placed one webbed foot upon its blade. The two giants stared at each other before on some silent signal charged into battle. Kyodaimaru drew back onto its four hind legs to avoid the horizontal slice of the blade from the toad before striking forward baring its fangs. Gamabunta leaped back to avoid the strike while at the same time forming a seal and spitting out a large ball of water at the spider. A large ball of web was spit from Kyodaimaru that intercepted the water, absorbing it and fell to the ground. This deadly dance continued for some time before the Iwagakage could be seen making seal and placing his hand on the spider's head. Rocks grew up from the ground and encompassed Kyodaimaru in as armor of earth and gravel.

"This will just be like Shukaku all over again; your blade won't be able to cut it now. 'Bunta jump into the air and give me some oil," Naruto yelled. Gamabunta jumped into the air narrowly avoiding the charge of the spider and puffed out his checks as he prepared to spit a ball of oil at it. Throwing a kunai with an explosive take on it Naruto quickly did the signs for a jutsu. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough" Naruto yelled as Gamabunta spit the oil and the explosive note went off. The explosive note lit the oil on fire and the wind attach strengthened it and speed it towards its target. The white hot ball of fire hit the spider head on and when the smoke cleared it could be seen that the giant spider had been damaged as its armor started to fall off and it struggled to get back on all of its legs. Before it could do so a large blade pierced through its body and pinned it to the ground as the large toad landed beside it, both arms on the hilt. With a poof of smoke the spider disappeared and Gamabunta place his sword back into its scabbard.

"That will do me for now. Naruto, I expect you to summon me latter to share a drink of sake." The toad said as his attention turned to the figure on his head.

"Of course 'Bunta, I'll even see if the local bar will break out a barrel of special sake just for you. Say hi to Gamakichi for me will you." Naruto said as he jumped off of the toad's head. When Naruto landed the toad disappeared into a cloud of smoke and he waited for his opponent. He did not have to wait long before he felt a large amount of chakra being molded. "Earth Release: Fangs of the World Beneath" could be heard as Naruto leaped into the air. As though trying to reclaim its lost companion, spikes of earthen rock rose after Naruto into the air. Naruto did a flip at the apex of his jump and angled himself so he was heading towards the Iwagakage narrowly missing the spikes. His opponent had not taken the time off and already had finished another set of hand signs, "Earth Release: Earth Dragon Missile". The dragon of earth roared before rushing up at Naruto. A Rasengan formed in Naruto's hand and he used it to destroy the attack before he landed back down on the ground.

Naruto channeled more chakra from his quickly depleting reserves into his body and began the conversion into lightning chakra. Reaching out with his senses he just about cursed when he felt for his kunai. They had been scattered by all of the earth attacks and the battle between the summons, he would not be able to use the 'Flight of the Thunder God' for any success in this battle. Instead of letting the chakra slip away he started to collect it into his right hand and began to rotate it. Just as before with his wind chakra a Rasengan came to life in his hand before it changed color and had arcs of electricity flowing off of it. "Lightning Release: Gem of Power" Naruto yelled before he charged forward the attack held at his side ready for the thrust. Several earthen walls rose between the two but the power of the lightning attack tore through the earth like it was paper and reaching his target Naruto drove the orb through the Kage only to have him turn to stone and fall apart, "earth clone, shit."

The Iwagakage rose from the ground behind Naruto and drove a blade through the younger warrior's chest. He chuckled as he watched the deadly ball of lightning fade away into nothing and blood start to leak from Naruto's mouth. "Naruto, isn't it? You should know better than to attack in such a strait forward manor like that. I enjoyed our little battle but I feel that it is time for me to end this. Any last words before I put you out of my misery." He said chuckling at his own joke.

A weak smile crossed Naruto's face as he coughed up more blood. "Of course I do. All I want to say before I go is. Look behind you." His piece said Naruto disappeared in a burst of smoke. A large mass of chakra was molded behind the Kage and he only had enough time to turn and see two more Narutos shoving a Rasengan that was several times bigger then a normal one into him. "Odama Rasengan," Naruto yelled as his attack hit and enveloped his opponent. With the shell of chakra holding it back destroyed the powerful chakra winds grabbed the Iwagakage and carried him away from Naruto while tearing at his body. He landed in a crumpled heap at the feet of his men only able to express his pain as a moan escaped his lips.

Seeing their leader defeated and his opponent still standing the Rock-nins picked him up and sounded a full retreat. Konoha ANBU quickly followed their trail to ensure that they were driven from the land and to get rid of as many enemy ninja as they could. Once they were out of sight a deafening roar of victory could be heard behind Naruto. Turning he saw the Shinobi of the Village Hidden within the Leaves cheering and celebrating their victory. Some were beginning to rush to his side when he felt his exhaustion catch up with him. The last thing he saw before the world went sideways then black was TenTen giving him a thumbs-up to tell him he was safe.

OoOoO

A soft humming was the first thing that he noticed as he began to regain consciousness, a humming that he easily recognized and it reminded him of happy times in his past. Listening to the rise and fall in pitch a small smile was brought to his lips as he slowly opened his eyes to look at the blue haired medic watching over him. For the past three years she had insisted on being his personal medic and had just about fought Sakura for that rite. A small chuckle escaped him at the memory of the normally shy and passive Kunoichi becoming a verbal juggernaut as she took away Sakura's favorite patient.

"Oh Naruto, you're awake." She said as she leaned over and gave him a small kiss.

"Don't stop on my account Hinata. You know how I enjoy your humming and the kissing too while I'm at it." Naruto as his small smile grew into a full blown grin.

"I see you're already starting to feel better if you are already joking around. You really over did it this time Naruto. You had small cuts and bruises all over your body, nearly every muscle in your body was strained and I've never know a time before where it took more then one night for you to recover from chakra exhaustion." Hinata said as she sat herself down in the chair by his bed.

"How long have I been out? What's happened?" Naruto asked as he looked around the room to see what he could gleam about the situation.

"You've been out for three days to answer your first question. As for your second well a lot has happened. First the Rock has formally surrendered and the Village Hidden within the Waterfall have agreed to act as a mediator in the surrender. Second, the civilians have returned and the village is already being repaired. The nurseries were not damaged this time so saplings are already being planted to replace the trees that were lost in the fighting. The one that you would like to know the most has to do with you. With the defeat of the Rock the primary threat to Konoha is over and Lady Tsunade has decided that it is time for you to take her place. After hearing about your battle and that the Kazekage was asking for your aid personally the council gave no resistance to the decision." A shy smile crossed her face as a blush threatened to take over. "You know, that means we are going to be married in about a week."

"About that Hinata, I have some good news and some bad news. First the bad news, I'm afraid you're not going to be able to take the name Uzumaki after all." Naruto started, looking back at her to see what her reaction would be. After seeing the depressed look settle on her face Naruto decided against continuing the teasing. "The good new is you get to take the real name of my family. Minato Namikaze, the 4th Hokage, was my father and it was decided before the battle that I can use my true family name from now on. Hinata Namikaze has a nice ring to it I think, don't you?" Naruto asked as he was on the verge of laughing because of the shocked look on her face.

"What? How? What do you mean Naruto?" Hinata asked after she regained enough of her faculties to talk.

"After I had first found out myself I finally understood why the 4th choose me to seal the Kyubi. He was a good leader and could not ask another parent of the village to do what he himself was not willing to do." Naruto said as he looked down at the sheets. "My father died because of the sealing and my mother, Kushina Uzumaki, died soon after of complications from giving birth to me during the Kyubi attack. The council and the 3rd Hokage decided that my true identity should be hidden until I could fully defend myself from my father's enemies. I found out from Ero-Sannin when we were on the training trip together but I was not allowed to tell anyone until the council deemed it no longer a secret. Before the battle it was decided that I can take up his name and use the last of his techniques, that's why I over did it. I have never got to use those techniques since I learned them, so I was excited and used them a little too much."

Hinata stayed quite after he spoke and instead just stared into his eyes as she let everything she heard sink in. After almost a minute of silence Hinata giggled and gave Naruto another small chaste kiss. "First I find out about the Kyubi, now I find out your dad is actually the 4th Hokage of this village. Are there any other surprises I should know about you before we marry Naruto?" Hinata asked with a smile.

Naruto returned her smile and replied. "Well there is one more and let me tell you I've keep this a very closely guarded secret. The secret is that I really, really like ramen."

More giggles escaped Hinata as she gave Naruto a playful swat on his arm. "Now I know you're feeling well. You'll probably be out of the hospitable after Lady Tsunade comes in to check on you later today. Now do you have any other questions before I ask my own?"

"Yes, how is your leg feeling now?" Naruto asked as he looked down at her legs.

"It's doing well. Everything is healed and I can walk without a limp now, I just have to keep from straining it for the next couple of weeks. Do you want to ask anything else?" Hinata questioned. Seeing him shake his head she continued. "In that case can you explain a conversation I had with TenTen yesterday? She cornered me outside and asked me if I want to have more then one kid. When I told her that I did, she told me that I got lucky and then would not explain what she was talking about. She just said to ask you."

A laugh escaped Naruto as he remembered the conversation he had held with TenTen the night before the fight. "I had asked her to do something in the battle that she really did not want to do. I then told her that it was important and that it could very well win us the battle. She agreed after that but told me that if it was really a waste of her time she would remove my ability to have children, well after I gave her a niece or nephew to spoil."

A contemplative look crossed Hinata's face for a moment. "I guess since she said I was lucky it means that she isn't going to harm you. That means I can let her in with the others when I go and get them. Are you ready for more company?"

"Bring them on." Naruto said.

"In that case I'll go get everyone. Enjoy this now Naruto. The next time you'll probably see everyone like this is after you become Hokage." That said, Hinata got up and walked out the door closing it behind her.

Naruto took the little break to think about what Hinata had said. It was a difficult path he had traveled to reach his dream and it will continue to be difficult now that he had achieved it. The village needed to rest and recover and then everyone would need to gear up again to go and help Gaara and Suna. Only this time they would be marching with him as their leader. That was a lot of responsibility that he would have to carry and a lot of trust he would have to fulfill. Naruto was not worried about that though; he knew that his friends would be there to help him should he need it. The sound of the door opening drew Naruto's attention from his inner contemplation. In through the door came the outside world, his friends, and the future all at once.

AN: I hope you all enjoyed the story. It was not meant to be a literary master peice; instead it was just meant to put some cool images into your head. Reviews would be good but constructive criticizm would be better. I'll be writting other stories now but I have desided that if I get enough requests (throuh reviews) to show the battle in Suna then I'll come back and add to this.


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